This April Fool’s Day SAMA’s Parent Advisory Council wants you to think of something besides practical jokes. The council, comprised of parents whose sons and daughters have the disease of addiction or have died from the disease, is coordinating the April 1st awareness day, “Don’t be fooled by prescription drugs.” The goal: to make the idea of checking your medicine cabinet for dangerous prescriptions as second nature as checking the batteries in your smoke alarm, putting on a bike helmet, or clicking your seatbelt.
John Gahagan, a co-chair of SAMA’s Parent Advisory Council, urges the public to get educated about the dangers posed by prescription medications. “There may be things in your medicine cabinet that are approved by the FDA, prescribed by your doctor and filled by your pharmacist, but that can kill your children or their friends,” says Gahagan. “We all need to take responsibility for what’s in our own medicine cabinets. As a parent who lost his son to drug addiction, I want to do all I can to prevent the senseless death of another young person.”
Details about the awareness campaign will be distributed in mid-March via email to SAMA supporters, the media and public and private organizations across the country.
The State of Washington has the 6th highest rate in the nation of prescription drug abuse among 12-17 year olds. And while the problem may seem insurmountable, SAMA is pleased to be among many voices, including elected officials, calling for greater attention to the crisis.
Washington Attorney General Rob McKenna has made the issue of prescription drug abuse a priority of his office. “Prescription drugs are now second on the list of drugs most abused by youth, according to the U.S. Department of Justice,” McKenna says. “Results of a 2006 survey showed that 20 percent of young people have abused prescription medication. Some of the most commonly abused prescription drugs include OxyContin, Vicodin, Valium, Xanax and Ritalin. It’s important to educate people to lock up their prescription drugs and to dispose of them properly when they are no longer needed.”
Attorney General McKenna will join SAMA on March 25 for a roundtable discussion about this critical issue. The discussion will include parents who have lost children to prescription drug addictions. Also participating will be Stephen Pasierb, President & CEO of Partnership for a Drug-Free America and Michelle Nitz-Weiss, SAMA’s President & CEO.
For more information about the April 1 awareness day and the March 25 roundtable, contact us at info@samafoundation.org.
Science and Management of Addictions Foundation 